James grew up in London, Ontario and lived most recently in the Beaches neighborhood of Toronto with his wife, Amanda, and their Bernese Mountain Dog, Harvin.

James attended Western University where he received an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (with distinction) at the Ivey Business School and an Honors Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science (also with distinction). James became an Associate of both the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

In 2012 and 2013, James completed summer internships in investment banking at Barclays in Los Angeles, followed after graduation by two years at Goldman Sachs in Toronto and New York from 2014 to 2016. In 2016, James joined TPG Capital in San Francisco before returning to Toronto in 2018 to continue his private equity career at Altas Partners. James also co-founded and chaired the board of a Canadian charitable foundation focused on supporting underprivileged youth athletes across Ontario.

James was first diagnosed with cancer in March 2018, just a few months after returning to Toronto from San Francisco. His tumor was identified as Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (A-RMS), a rare and often lethal form of pediatric sarcoma, which was localized in his right forearm. James received a treatment regimen at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre that included nine months of chemotherapy, one month of radiation therapy, and surgery. In December 2018, he was deemed “cancer-free,” returning to his routine of hard work, exercise, and spending time with friends and family, along with a new appreciation for life’s ups and downs.

Unfortunately, in May 2019, a few weeks before his twenty-eighth birthday, James’s cancer returned. The disease had spread throughout much of his body, and James was informed that it was likely incurable. Through October 2019, James completed eight, one-week cycles of intensive chemotherapy – seven cycles before his cancer overcame the first regimen and one cycle before it overcame the second regimen. In November 2019, James elected to enter an A-RMS clinical trial based at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. James’s cancer overcame the protocol after two months of treatment. Consequently, James restarted chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment in Toronto to try to manage his progressing disease. Tragically, following a routine procedure in March 2020, he went into cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated.

The James J. Hammond Fund was established to positively impact many future patients facing similarly dire situations, and ultimately offer them a cure.